The Third Blade
by Zylo the Wolfbane
Summary: It has been 100 years since the events of Soul Calibur 4, the twin swords are awakening once more, but something else is awakening with them, something that has not been awake in a very, very long time.....
1. Prologue

It has been 100 years since the last clash of the swords, the Hero King Algol had been resurrected, and summarily defeated, many rumors had formed about the fate of the two swords, but no one really knew what had happened. The truth may never be revealed but something has happened, the two swords are stirring once more, the warriors from 100 years ago are resurfacing, and their children have taken up their ancestors blades. Everyone can feel it, the power of light and dark flow about that land, a land torn by war and death, things did not go as planned, the rifle was considered useless after Heishiro Mitsurugi showed the true strength of the blade, progress seemed to halt, and the world is not what it should be. The immortal Zasalamel is disappointed, his shining vision has not come to pass, but he is patient, but, with the resurfacing of the two swords, how will this affect his plans, and will his vision truly come to pass? Nightmare has risen again in the cursed castle of Ostrheinsburg, he is quickly gaining power, although he is still weak, Soul Edge is not fully awakened yet, and so Nightmare waits. Siegfreid has appeared, seemingly from nowhere, as he has begun roaming the lands, preparing for what he hopes will truly be the final battle between the powers of light and darkness. Ivy, after years of research has rebuilt her sword with a shard of her created soul, and so she now delves deep into her personal library and alchemy labs, trying to find a way to truly destroy Soul Edge. Cervantes has risen from the sea he disappeared to, his power is weak, his life fading, but now he rampages wildly through the lands, taking the souls of the innocent to fuel his cursed life. Maxi, Talim, Xianghua, Kilik, Seaong-Mi-Na, Yun-Seong, Hildegard Von Krone, Setsuka, Mitsurugi, Rock, Cassandra, and Sophitia Alexandra have all passed away, but something strange is happening now that the swords begin to rise once more the souls of the dead have been seen, roaming their old homes and towns, will the warriors of old return to the world of the living? Tira has become like a beast, roaming and slaughtering, her personality and mind completely shattered, with countless personalities vying for power of the body, but they all want to kill. Voldo has continued guarding his masters treasure vigilantly, but now, with the return of Soul Edge the faithful servant goes forth once more, to find the final treasure for his master. Yoshimitsu is rumored to live in the mountains with a group of bandits that continue their battle for true justice. Raphael Sorel and Amy have been spotted in a small mansion in the forests of england, soulless slaves preparing for them to venture out into the world again. Astaroth has awakened and left on a brutal massacre through the lands, killing all they can and taking the souls of all he slaughters, his hunt goes unstopped as Ashlotte, the mechanical golem created to stop him, remains asleep, her unchanging face waiting serenely for new orders. Scheherazade has come out of hiding, searching now for a worthy opponent, and perhaps a worthy lover. Kamikirimusi has come back into the world, bringing a few of her feudal demon friends along with her to enjoy the wonders of the world. Angol Fear watches the events that are about to unfold, waiting to see if humanity is still worthy of being spared the wrath of the cosmos. Through all of this a new power is rising, a third power that battles with the other two, a power that has not been seen in a very, very long time...


	2. An Evil Wind

Zasalamel frowned, his dark skin taught and grim, his golden eye shone brightly while his second, normal eye stared blankly, "Something is wrong." he said simply. The group gathered around him looked up, their white robes quivering in the slight breeze of the large open workshop. The robes were of simple whit cloth, with an eye emblazoned on the back in gold. "The two swords are coming yet again, but something else is coming with them." Zasalamel stated, his voice was deep and commanding and the group of acolytes listened intently. "We must go, things are happening that should not be." he said as he lifted his scythe and left the workshop, his white robed acolytes following closely as the man with the scythe led them towards their destination.

Nightmare sat on his throne, slumped over to one side, his body seemed to flicker and pieces of his armor fell to the floor, only to rise weakly and reattach themselves to the figure, "Need...more...souls..." Nightmare muttered as he weakly stood to his feet, taking the rusty iron paddle in his hands, the four foot blunt blade coated in brown rust and a few bugs that had made their home there. Nightmare began slowly walking to the door, his weapon dragging along the stone, creating a terrible screeching sound.

Siegfreid could sense the evil of Soul Edge awakening, Nightmare was on the move. Siegfreid looked down at his hand, the hand that had once been a twisted representation of his curse, "I may have been forgiven, but I still seek my own redemption." he muttered, hefting his blade, Requiem and walking slowly through the forest, his armor moving soundlessly, glinting in the light sunlight that pierced through the leaves. His forest green cloak gathered around him, his blond hair fluttering in the slight breeze. The scar on the right side of his face still pained him slightly, and it was still plainly visible to all.

Ivy awoke from her light sleep, her sword was writhing and twisting, "What is it? Is it happening?" she asked in her deep, strong voice. Her white hair fluttered as her sword whipped wildly from side to side before finally reforming into a single blade and staying still. Ivy sighed, "I suppose it is time once more." she said simply. Ivy walked about her mansion, gathering a few supplies she would need for her travels and setting off, the sun high in the sky reflected off her shining silver sword and her pearl white hair. Ivy walked out into the world that she had once thought had abandoned her, but now she was ready to defend it, even if it shunned her.

Cervantes De Leon stumbled into the town, leaning heavily on his cursed longsword, he looked at the small child before him and grinned wickedly, "Fresh souls." the undead pirate muttered as he lifted his gunsword and brought the blade crashing down on the child's head, the blade cleaving through flesh and bone to stick in the boys breast. Cervantes shuddered as the boy's innocent soul flowed into him, strengthening him as Cervantes stood a bit straighter, and moved a bit smoother, "Now for the feast." he said evilly, heading into the town, his wild white mane flowing about his head as his cape soared out behind him, caught up in an evil wind.


	3. The Children of the Holy

Nanim woke up and smiled, her bright blue eyes, filled with adventure and anticipation, sparkled in the sunlight streaming through her windows. Nanim hopped out of bed and raced out her door, into the kitchen where she tumbled down to the floor, she stood up and looked around, as if checking if anyone had seen her mistake, she giggled and sat down at her chair, her mother looked at Nanim over her shoulder, "Be more careful." she said sternly as she put breakfast on a plate and set it in front of Nanim. Nanim smiled, "Don't worry mom, I'm fine." she said happily before grabbing her fork and gobbling down her food, then she stood up and darted back to her room again, pulling off her small nightgown and tossing it to the bed before looking at herself in the mirror.

Nanim was thin and tan, skinny but powerful legs and small arms, she was about 5'4 now, and she had stopped growing, she frowned, "Aw man, I want to get taller!" she said unhappily, she shrugged and smiled, grabbing clothes from her wooden dresser and pulling them on, a simple blue shirt without sleeves and a pair of blue pants with large pockets, the pants were a bit baggy so she could move her legs better, and they were comfier. She slipped on her simple black shoes and went back out to the kitchen again, hugging her mother and smiling cutely, "I love you mommy." she said as she released her then darted outside, "I love you too, now be careful!" her mother called after her.

Tinma woke up and stared at the sky through the light green leaves of the forest around him, the sunlight falling softly through the forest around him, dappling the ground with spots of light and dark. Tinma yawned and stood up, looking around, gathering his bearings before standing and looking at the burnt out remains of his fire, and the dried strips of meat wrapped in cloth beside it. Tinma grabbed a slice of meat and put the tough dried food into his mouth, chewing on it as he began packing up his campsite, gathering the small makeshift spit and taking it apart, placing the sticks and rope in his pack, her gathered a few other small objects and placing them in his pack as well.

Then Tinma stood and looked at his sword, embedded in the soft earth like an iron sentinel, a silent guardian that had been watching over Tinama as he slept, Tinama smiled and placed his hand on the hilt of the large zweihander, the huge two handed weapon which was called the 'Gram' supposedly a holy weapon used by a norse god to slay a dragon. Tinama pulled the blade from the ground and grinned, he didn't care much for the history, it was his weapon now, and he would use it to forge his own legends. Tinama pulled on his pack and slung his sword over his shoulder then began walking through the sunlit forest.


	4. Death and Life

Nanim's mother sighed as she watched her daughter from the doorway, Nanim skipped and jumped happily through the green grass, smiling merrily, her bright eyes glinting in the sun, her hair flying in the wind. The wind...soon Nanim would have to go, the elder had said that Nanim had the same gift her grandmother had. Nanim's grandmother, Talim, had passed away a few years after Nainim was born, but her holy blades lay in a place of honor in the temple of the wind. Nanim's mother sighed and looked at Nanim one last time, "Good luck on your journey my daughter." she said as she turned and bustled back into the house, getting ready to make dinner.

Nanim smiled and sang a light, merry tune as she played, singing to the wind, and the wind sang back.

Zasalamel and his acolytes looked at the ruins of what had once been the home of a cult, worshiping the god of destruction, somewhere in the ruins lay Asholette, the one thing that had stopped the Black Giant, Astaroth, Zasalamel would find her and use her as his own. Zasalamel waved his hand at the ruins and his acolytes set to work, clearing rubble and searching, moving carefully in case of any forgotten traps in the ruins should go off.

Tinma stepped out of the forest and looked down the hill at a few white robed figures moving around the ruins of an old temple. Tinma smiled, he had been looking through the ruins for a while now, and he knew that most of the traps were still intact. Just as he finished his thoughts a loud explosion sounded from the ruins and three flaming, white-robed figures ran out of the ruins, screaming as their companions tried to put out the flames. Tinma repositioned his sword and started down, might as well greet the new guests.

Kamikirimusi smiled happily and skipped through the burning town, the spirits and demons that were her friends flew about the town, killing and burning merrily. Kamikirimusi smiled and brought her large mace swinging around, smashing a poor villager completely in half, the man's guts spewed across the ground and through the air, the female oni smiled and put her mace over her shoulder, skipping out of the burning village and leading her allies to the next town, the fun was just beginning.

Raphael smiled at Amy, "Come my dear, we must go, our world awaits!" Amy smiled and picked up her rapier, "Yes Raphael, I'm coming!" she said, rushing to her adopted father's side, "Ok, I'm ready." she said with a nod and a smile. "All right then," Raphael said, "Now take my hand, I don't want you getting lost." Amy smiled and took Raphael's hand as they stepped out of their mansion and into the dark forest, "Let's go find Soul Edge!" Amy said with a giggle as they started walking through the forest.

Scheherazade stepped out of the small cave she had used as her shelter and stretched widely, yawning and smiling at the blue sky, "All right, a new day, let's have fun!" she said to herself, grabbing her pack and putting her sheath on her belt as she skipped merrily down the mountainside towards the nearest village, her pointed ears twitched slightly as her bright blond hair brushed against it.


End file.
